Cucumber
A cucumber contains approx 95% water and therefore its nutritional value is relatively low. However, it is of great importance as a tasty vegetable, attractive, is eagerly eaten. Cucumber is very demanding on both soil, and temperature. Needs a lot of heat to grow, humid air and a high water content in the soil. That is why the warmest place in our garden should be allocated under the cucumbers. In cool and rainy summers, plants get sick, and the fruit rots, in dry years, they grow poorly, the fruit is often misshapen and bitter. The soil should be rich in nutrients and not acidified. You should not grow cucumbers in the same place more often than what 3-4 years.
In the fall, manure is dug up, preferably equine (3-4 kg/m2), and when grown in the second year after manure – compost. In addition, mineral fertilizers are used before sowing: 30-40 g saletrzaku i po 40-50 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate on 1 m2. Cucumbers over-fertilized with nitrogen fertilizers grow strongly, but they bear fruit poorly, and fruit is not a good raw material for fermentation.
Cucumbers into the ground are sown in mid-May in rows separated by 80-120 cm (the better the soil, the less often) or in a single row in the center of the bed. Fast-growing plants are grown in the inter-row spaces, e.g. lettuce, radish, harvested before the cucumbers sprout. On 1 m2 must be sown 0,6-0,8 g nasion. The seeds are sown one by one in a row or one by one 2-3 seeds at intervals of 10-15–centimeters. The depth of the seed cover 1,5-2,0 cm. In order to accelerate the germination, the seeds are soaked in warm water for one and a half days (20-30°C). When plants have 1-2 proper leaves, and they have grown too thick, unnecessary plants are cut off at the base (they should not be torn off, so as not to damage the roots of the plants left behind). Caring for cucumbers is based on weeding, combined with shallow soil loosening (do 2 cm), top dressing with mineral fertilizers and watering.
In order to speed up the harvest of cucumbers, they are grown from seedlings prepared in an inspection or apartment. In the second half of April, after 3 seeds. After the plants have emerged, the weakest ones are removed, and the rest is kept at a temperature of 20-25 ° C. In mid-May, they can be put into the ground. By planting seedlings in a foil tunnel (2 rows along the width of the tunnel 1,20 m) in late April or early May, harvesting is even faster.
The ripe fruit is harvested, but still unripe, cutting them off with a knife, so as not to tear the plants. Average is obtained 3-5 fruit from one plant, a z 1 m2 approx 1-1,5 kg.
The selection of cucumber field varieties includes one gherkin variety, 9 canned varieties and fermented vegetables, and 7 salad varieties and fermenters.
The gherkin variety is Mikor. It is an early variety, useful for gherkins, however, you have to pick the fruit often, because they tend to thicken and turn yellow. Average yield approx 12 kg from the surface 10 m2 of cucumbers with a length of 3 do 7 cm. The fruit is cylindrical, truncated at the peduncle, slightly narrowed at the calyx, with tiny warts, green.
They are canning and fermentation varieties: Boruta F, -early, requires frequent harvesting, because the fruit thickens and turns yellow quickly; very fertile; fruit length 6-9 cm, in diameter 2-3,5 cm; Polan F, – also early, quickly entering the period of strong fruiting; very fertile, resistant to scab, good for canned food in vinegar, and with very frequent harvesting and for gherkins; cylindrical fruit, rounded at the ends, green, not yellowing; fruit length 6-10 cm, diameter 2,5-4 cm; Smoke F, – medium early, very fertile, resistant to scab and viral mosaic; fruit of length 7-9 cm, diameter approx 3,5 cm, cylindrical shape, rounded at both ends, green with streaks to 3/4 fruit, often fuzzy and with few large warts; fruit not prone to yellowing, with very high taste values; Victoria F, – medium early; a fruit similar in size to the Dragon F,, however, its surface is covered with numerous warts; Mieszko F., – medium early, very fertile; fruit of length 6-8 cm, diameter 2,5-3,5 cm; Racibor F, – medium early, very fertile; fruit length
6,5-8,5 cm, diameter 2-3 cm; Hela F, – medium early, very fertile, long fruit, similar to Racibora F, are suitable for fermentation; fruit length 6,5-9 cm, diameter 2-3 cm; Cave F, – one of the newest varieties, early, about fruits similar to Victoria F., covered with tiny warts; Monastyrski – the oldest Polish variety of cucumbers grown for canning; must be harvested frequently, because the fruit grows thick and turns yellow; better than above. hybrids for growing in worse conditions; fruit of length 9-13 cm, diameter 4-5 cm, cylindrical shape, rounded at the ends, dark green with lighter streaks from 1/3-1/2 fruit, more or less papillary.
They belong to the salad and pickling varieties: Delicious – medium early, fertile, tasty; suitable for salads and frozen meals; fruit of length 13-16 cm, diameter 4-5 cm, cylindrical, intense green, not yellowing, with light green streaks to 2/3 fruit; Fry-ko F, – medium early, very foamy; fruit of length 14-17 cm, diameter 4,5-5,5 cm, cylindrical shape, smooth, almost wartless, dark green with light streaks, not prone to yellowing; For F, – medium early, very fertile, resistant to angular blotch and mildew; cylindrical fruit, length 16-18 cm, diameter 5-6 cm, with a smooth surface, slightly papillary, dark green with light streaks, not prone to yellowing; Comet F, – medium early; fruit of length 14-16 cm, diameter 3,5-4,5 cm; Ikar F, – early; fruit of length 16-20 cm, diameter 4,0-5,5 cm; Olimp F, – the earliest of this group of varieties; fruit of length 13-17 cm, diameter 4,5-5,5 cm; Wisconsin SMR 18 -medium early, American origin; resistant to scab and viral mosaic; perfect variety for fermentation, and also for cucumber salad; plants with vigorous growth; fruit of length 12-15 cm, diameter 5-6 cm, cylindrical slightly tapering, clearly ribbed, dark green, low tendency to yellowing and thickening.